Shafer: Save the newspapers from Obama!Obama has suggested he might bail-out dying newspapers who are willing to reorganise as non-profits. But the last thing papers need is to be forever stuck with their hands out, says Jack Shafer. Run for your lives, publishers!
Future of newspapers
Will Obama bail out the newspaper industry?
US President Barack Obama says he’s open to the idea of giving dying news organisations tax breaks in order to save the media, lest those nasty bloggers take over the news industry with their shouting and opinions.
Syndicated news goes A La Carte
CNN’s wire service, CNN Wire, is now offering newspaper editors the chance to buy individual stories for syndication — at $199 a pop. It’s like ordering off a menu instead of hiring a personal chef.
Shock! A quarter of newspapers don’t use Twitter or Facebook!
“24% of newspapers still in the internet dark ages” exclaims Silicon Alley Insider in response to news that 24% of US newspapers don’t provide access to their information via social media. Quelle horreur!
Web expert tells Fairfax: newspapers have 10 years. Tops.
World Internet Project founder Professor Jeffrey Cole sees a limited future for newspapers in print. So it sure would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall at the Fairfax strategy meeting he spoke at on Monday.
Rupert Murdoch sees the digital light
Rupert Murdoch sees the day when newsprint-based papers won’t exist and everything is electronic, just like Crikey.
Dear media commentators: newspapers don’t need your advice
Got a brilliant idea about how to save the newspaper industry? Keep it to yourself. Newspapers aren’t short on ideas, says Joshua-Michéle Ross — they’re grappling with much larger questions and structural problems.
Michael Moore: “Newspapers slit their own throats”
Film-maker Michael Moore has weighed-in on the death of the American daily newspaper industry: capitalism is the killer. Oh, and he’s just released a film about capitalism. Funny that. Still, a witty and worthwhile analysis.
The future of news: networked, non-profit… NPR 
Family feud: why the Post may outlive the Times
Both of America’s premier mastheads, the New York Times and Washington Post are suffering in the media downturn. But the Post has one advantage that may see it weather the storm better, says Michael Wolff: likeable owners.
How the free market can save the free press
In order for news organisations to survive, the US government must grant them exemption from antitrust and price-fixing laws so that they can essentially “collude for survival”, argues Tim Rutten.
Don’t buy in to newspapers’ good news
Newspaper stocks may have been rallying in recent months, but don’t get too excited: it’s mainly due to heavy, heavy cost-cutting and a downturn in the newsprint and ink industries. Newspapers are still far from out of the woods — even if the trees are currently a bit cheaper.
Fairfax’s strategic future: Crikey readers weigh in
We asked, and a handful of you cared enough to answer. Here are some Crikey reader’s thoughts on the strategic direction of Fairfax.
Death of newspapers: it’s the advertising, stupid
Newspapers aren’t dying because readers are no longer buying them. The main problem is that advertisers, whose ads have always paid the cost of journalism, are deserting newspapers.
Five more reasons newspapers are dying (and why no-one’s talking about them)
Another day, another “why newspapers are dying” op-ed — but here are some arguments you may not have heard before from former Salon and NPR writer Bill Wyman.
ABC: it’s your newspaper
Nothing covers complex news stories like the written word. Which is exactly why we need a publicly funded ABC newspaper, writes Jeff Sparrow. And it can hire all the sacked journos!
Spend $2million for 100,000 sales: an Age reader offer
The Age is desperate to shore up dropping sales figures and it’s taking desperate steps — giveaways and reader promotions — to try and halt the decline.
Video of the Day: Ricky Gervais: newspapers’ future? What a silly question
“Are you going to be unhappy when there’s no more perambulators to put your baby in?” We sense the comedian doesn’t understand just how serious this whole newspaper death thing is.
News Ltd and the cold shoulder of redundancy
The journalists’ union is taking a hard look at News Limited’s redundancies, writes Christopher Warren.
The internet isn’t killing newspapers, greedy journalists are
Online publications paying disproportionately high journalist salaries are the reason newspapers are dying off, says tech reporter Michael Hickens — and we’re not even worth it.
Newspapers haven’t actually charged for content in 180 years
History lesson: the retail price of a newspaper hasn’t reflected the total cost of assembling and producing it since around the 1830s, says NewsFuturist. Why expect the economics to apply any differently for online news?
Why journalists deserve low pay: interview with Robert Picard
Christian Science Monitor editor John Yemma chats to media consultant Robert Picard, who stirred up a bit of controversy with an op-ed in the paper last month entitled “Why journalists deserve low pay”.
David Simon: a blueprint for saving newspapers
TV producer and writer David Simon has a few humble suggestions for the publishers of The New York Times and The Washington Post to save them — and the rest of print media — from going under.
Melbourne CBD’s newspaper black hole
News junkies wanting to locate hard copies of rural and interstate newspapers in Melbourne’s CBD are on a fool’s errand. Andrew Crook knows, he embarked on a fruitless search through the city.
New York Times to seek sponsorship?
As Rupert Murdoch considers locking up content, The New York Times has begun considering foundation funding (a la National Public Radio) to help cover some of its news-gathering costs, says Bill Mitchell.
